Wireless communication system, communication apparatus, setting information providing method, setting information obtaining method, and computer program

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication system includes an access point, a master communication apparatus, and a slave communication apparatus, and the master communication apparatus and the slave communication apparatus perform wireless communication through the access point. The master communication apparatus stores setting information necessary for accessing the access point; performs wireless communication through the access point using the stored setting information; and performs near field communication with the slave communication apparatus to transmit the stored setting information to the slave communication apparatus in response to a setting information request received from the slave communication apparatus via near field communication. The slave communication apparatus performs near field communication with the master communication apparatus to transmit the setting information request to the master communication apparatus; receives the setting information from the master communication apparatus via near field communication; stores the setting information; and performs wireless communication through the access point using the setting information.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/594,907 filed Nov. 9, 2006, which in turn claims priority fromJapanese Application No.: 2005-345468, filed on Nov. 30, 2005, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to wireless communication systems,communication apparatuses, setting information providing methods,setting information obtaining methods, and computer programs. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a wireless communicationsystem for performing wireless communication through an access point, inwhich communication apparatuses can easily obtain setting informationnecessary for accessing the access point and can readily start wirelesscommunication, a communication apparatus used in the wirelesscommunication system, a setting information providing method, a settinginformation obtaining method, and a computer program.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a wireless communication system in which a plurality of communicationapparatuses perform wireless communication through access points, theindividual communication apparatuses have setting information necessaryfor accessing the access points. The setting information includes, forexample, IDs of the access points and key information. In general, usersmanually input such setting information when setting information isnewly registered in the communication apparatuses or when existingsetting information is updated in accordance with changes of the accesspoints.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2003-32261 discloses a method for easily performing the setting of acommunication apparatus using a contactless interface. In the methoddisclosed in this publication, a mobile phone is equipped with acontactless IC card. The mobile phone perform near field communicationusing the contactless IC card to transmit the card ID of the contactlessIC card of the mobile phone and the Bluetooth device name of acommunication partner with which the mobile phone is to communicate to apersonal computer serving as a master control apparatus of Bluetoothcommunication so that the personal computer can specify thecommunication party. This method allows a user to easily performwireless communication using the mobile phone without manually inputtingthe device name, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the above-mentioned method, however, it is necessary to move acommunication apparatus into a range in which it can perform near fieldcommunication with an access point. If the access point is locatedoutside the user's reach, such as in the attic, the user may beinconvenienced.

It is therefore desirable to provide a wireless communication system forperforming wireless communication through an access point, in whichcommunication apparatuses can easily obtain setting informationnecessary for accessing the access point and can readily start wirelesscommunication, a communication apparatus, a setting informationproviding method, a setting information obtaining method, and a computerprogram.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided awireless communication system including an access point, a mastercommunication apparatus, and a slave communication apparatus, whereinthe master communication apparatus and the slave communication apparatusperform wireless communication through the access point. In the wirelesscommunication system, the master communication apparatus includes thefollowing elements. A master-side setting information storage unitstores setting information necessary for accessing the access point. Amaster-side wireless communication unit performs wireless communicationthrough the access point using the setting information stored in themaster-side setting information storage unit. A master-side near fieldcommunication unit performs near field communication with the slavecommunication apparatus. A setting information transfer unit receives asetting information request for requesting the setting information fromthe slave communication apparatus through the master-side near fieldcommunication unit, and transmits the setting information stored in themaster-side setting information storage unit to the slave communicationapparatus in response to the setting information request. The slavecommunication apparatus includes the following elements. A slave-sidenear field communication unit performs near field communication with themaster communication apparatus. A setting information obtaining unittransmits the setting information request to the master communicationapparatus through the slave-side near field communication unit, andreceives the setting information from the master communication apparatusthrough the slave-side near field communication unit. A slave-sidesetting information storage unit stores the setting information obtainedby the setting information obtaining unit. A slave-side wirelesscommunication unit performs wireless communication through the accesspoint using the setting information stored in the slave-side settinginformation storage unit.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, a slavecommunication apparatus that does not have setting information necessaryfor accessing an access point can obtain the setting information vianear field communication from a master communication apparatus havingthe setting information stored therein. Therefore, a user only moves theslave communication apparatus to a place at which it can perform nearfield communication with the master communication apparatus so that theslave communication apparatus can automatically obtain the settinginformation and can perform wireless communication through the accesspoint without the user having to manually input the setting informationin the slave communication apparatus and having to directly obtain thesetting information from the access point.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a communication apparatus for performing wireless communicationthrough an access point. The communication apparatus includes thefollowing elements. A setting information storage unit stores settinginformation necessary for accessing the access point. A wirelesscommunication unit performs wireless communication through the accesspoint using the setting information stored in the setting informationstorage unit. A near field communication unit performs near fieldcommunication with a second communication apparatus. A settinginformation transfer unit receives a setting information request forrequesting the setting information from the second communicationapparatus through the near field communication unit, and transmits thesetting information stored in the setting information storage unit tothe second communication apparatus in response to the settinginformation request.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the communicationapparatus can transmit the setting information stored therein to anothercommunication apparatus that does not have the setting information vianear field communication. Therefore, a user can only place acommunication apparatus having the setting information stored thereinclose to a communication apparatus that does not have the settinginformation, thereby transferring the setting information. That is, thecommunication apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention allows a user to readily enable another communicationapparatus to perform wireless communication through the access point.

The communication apparatus may further include the following elements.A content storage unit stores content data. An access informationobtaining unit receives access information through the near fieldcommunication unit from the second communication apparatus to which thesetting information transfer unit transmits the setting information, theaccess information being used to access the second communicationapparatus through the access point. A content transfer unit accesses thesecond communication apparatus that is specified by the accessinformation through the wireless communication unit, and transmits thecontent data stored in the content storage unit. With this structure,the communication apparatus can transmit content data via wirelesscommunication through the access point to the second communicationapparatus to which the setting information is transmitted via near fieldcommunication. In general, wireless communication through access pointsrealizes higher communication speed than near field communication.Therefore, the communication apparatus can efficiently transfer evencontent data with a large data size to the second communicationapparatus via wireless communication through the access point.

The near field communication unit may include a reader/writer that readsand writes data from and to a contactless IC card. Specifically, forexample, the near field communication unit may be configured to performtwo-way near field communication using the Near Field Communication(NFC) standard.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program for allowing a computer to function as theabove-described communication apparatus. The computer program is storedin a storage unit included in the computer, and is read and executed bya central processing unit (CPU) of the computer, thereby allowing thecomputer to function as the above-described communication apparatus.Further, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium havingthe computer program recorded thereon. The recording medium may be, forexample, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a setting information providing method performed by acommunication apparatus including a wireless communication unit thatuses setting information necessary for accessing an access point toperform wireless communication through the access point and a near fieldcommunication unit that performs near field communication with a secondcommunication apparatus. The setting information providing methodincludes the steps of receiving a setting information request forrequesting the setting information from the second communicationapparatus through the near field communication unit; and transmittingthe setting information to the second communication apparatus throughthe near field communication unit in response to the setting informationrequest. The transmitted setting information may be setting informationread from a setting information storage unit having the settinginformation stored therein.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a communication apparatus for performing wireless communicationthrough an access point. The communication apparatus includes thefollowing elements. A near field communication unit performs near fieldcommunication with a second communication apparatus. A settinginformation obtaining unit transmits a setting information request forrequesting setting information necessary for accessing the access pointto the second communication apparatus through the near fieldcommunication unit, and receives the setting information from the secondcommunication apparatus. A setting information storage unit stores thesetting information obtained by the setting information obtaining unit.A wireless communication unit performs wireless communication throughthe access point using the setting information stored in the settinginformation storage unit.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, a communicationapparatus that does not have the setting information can receive thesetting information from another communication apparatus having thesetting information stored therein via near field communication.Therefore, a user can only place a communication apparatus that does nothave the setting information close to a communication apparatus havingthe setting information stored therein, thereby transferring the settinginformation. That is, a user performs a simple operation of placing thecommunication apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention close to another communication apparatus having the settinginformation stored therein so that the communication apparatus canperform wireless communication through the access point.

The communication apparatus may further include the following elements.A content storage unit stores content data. An access informationobtaining unit receives access information through the near fieldcommunication unit from the second communication apparatus from whichthe setting information is obtained by the setting information obtainingunit, the access information being used to access the secondcommunication apparatus through the access point. A content transferunit accesses the second communication apparatus that is specified bythe access information through the wireless communication unit, andtransmits the content data stored in the content storage unit. With thisstructure, the communication apparatus can transmit content data viawireless communication through the access point to the secondcommunication apparatus from which the setting information is receivedvia near field communication. That is, a user performs a simpleoperation to placing the communication apparatus according to theembodiment of the presenting invention close to a second communicationapparatus having the setting information stored therein so that thecommunication apparatus can perform wireless communication through theaccess point and can also transfer content to the second communicationapparatus.

The communication apparatus may further include a transfer-contentselecting unit that selects content to be transferred by the contenttransfer unit from the content storage unit. With this structure, in acase where a plurality of content items are stored in the contentstorage unit, content to be transferred to the second communicationapparatus can be arbitrarily selected.

The communication apparatus may further include a content playback unitthat plays back the content. In this case, the transfer-contentselecting unit may select, as the content to be transferred by thecontent transfer unit, content currently being played back by thecontent playback unit when the transfer-content selecting unit selectscontent. With this structure, the communication apparatus canautomatically designate the currently played back content as the targetto be played back even if the user does not clearly designate thecontent to be transferred, and can transmit the designated content toanother communication apparatus.

When the content currently being played back by the content playbackunit is selected as the content to be transferred, the content transferunit may transmit, together with the content data, information regardinga playback position of the content that is currently being played backby the content playback unit to the second communication apparatus. Theinformation regarding the playback position is information foridentifying the point up to which the current content has been playedback, and includes, for example, an elapsed time from the beginning ofplayback of the content. Thus, the second communication apparatus towhich the content data and the information regarding the playbackposition are transmitted can play back the content data from a certainpoint therewithin according to the information on the playback position.That is, in a case where the communication apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention is playing back content data, thesecond communication apparatus to which the content data is transferredcan play back the content data from the last point at which the contentdata was played back by the communication apparatus.

The near field communication unit may include a contactless IC cardfunction executing unit that executes a contactless IC card function.The contactless IC card function includes a function for performingcontactless near field communication with a reader/writer to transmitand receive data. The contactless IC card function executing unit may beimplemented as a contactless IC card, but is not limited to acard-shaped medium.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program for allowing a computer to function as theabove-described communication apparatus.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a setting information obtaining method performed by acommunication apparatus including a wireless communication unit thatuses setting information necessary for accessing an access point toperform wireless communication through the access point and a near fieldcommunication unit that performs near field communication with a secondcommunication apparatus. The setting information obtaining methodincludes the steps of transmitting a setting information request forrequesting the setting information to the second communication apparatusthrough the near field communication unit; and receiving the settinginformation from the second communication apparatus through the nearfield communication unit.

According to the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, awireless communication system for performing wireless communicationthrough an access point, in which communication apparatuses can easilyobtain setting information necessary for accessing the access point andcan readily start wireless communication, a communication apparatus, asetting information providing method, a setting information obtainingmethod, and a computer program can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall structure of a wirelesscommunication system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional structure of an accesspoint, a master communication apparatus, and a slave communicationapparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing setting information in the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the data flow in the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional structure of an accesspoint, a master communication apparatus, and a slave communicationapparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the data flow in the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processingperformed by the slave communication apparatus in the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processingperformed by the master communication apparatus in the secondembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a functional structure of an accesspoint, a master communication apparatus, and a slave communicationapparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the data flow in the third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In thespecification and the drawings, elements having substantially the samefunctional structure are assigned the same reference numerals, and aredundant description thereof is omitted.

In the following embodiments, in a wireless communication system inwhich a plurality of communication apparatuses perform wirelesscommunication through an access point, a first communication apparatushaving setting information stored therein necessary for accessing theaccess point transfers the setting information to a second communicationapparatus that does not have the setting information so that the secondcommunication apparatus can obtain the setting information. Bytransferring the setting information from a communication apparatushaving the setting information stored therein to other communicationapparatuses, the communication apparatuses can obtain the settinginformation without users having to manually input the settinginformation or having to directly obtain the setting information fromthe access point. The embodiments will be described in detail.

First Embodiment

A wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in the context of a wirelesscommunication system 100 including a master communication apparatus 104and a slave communication apparatus 106 between which wirelesscommunication can be performed through an access point 102.

First, the overall structure of the wireless communication system 100according to the first embodiment will be described with reference toFIG. 1. The wireless communication system 100 includes the access point102, the master communication apparatus 104, and the slave communicationapparatus 106. While two communication apparatuses, namely, the mastercommunication apparatus 104 and the slave communication apparatus 106,are illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system 100 mayinclude more than two communication apparatuses.

The access point 102 has a function for relying wireless communicationbetween the communication apparatuses in the wireless communicationsystem 100. More specifically, the access point 102 is a wireless LANaccess point, and acts as a rely in a wireless LAN constituted by thecommunication apparatuses 104 and 106, which are wireless communicationapparatuses complying with the IEEE 802.11 standards, for relying radiowaves between those communication apparatuses to carry out communicationbetween the communication apparatuses. The access point 102 may have afunction for connecting to a wired LAN. The access point 102 is assignedan extended service set identifier (ESSID) for identifying a network.The access point 102 communicates only with a communication apparatushaving the same ESSID as the ESSID of the access point 102.

The access point 102 also has a wired equivalent privacy (WEP) key. TheWEP key is delivered to communication apparatuses between whichcommunication is relayed by the access point 102, and each of thecommunication apparatuses uses the WEP key to encrypt and decrypt datato be communicated. That is, in each of the communication apparatuses,the ESSID is necessary to access the access point 102, and the WEP keyis necessary to perform wireless communication with other communicationapparatuses through the access point 102. In the first embodiment,therefore, setting information necessary for each communicationapparatus to access the access point 102 includes at least an ESSID anda WEP key.

The communication apparatuses 104 and 106 are computers capable ofperforming wireless communication through the access point 102. Morespecifically, each of the communication apparatuses 104 and 106 isequipped with a wireless LAN adaptor complying with the IEEE 802.11standards, and the wireless LAN adapters have IDs identical to the ESSIDof the access point 102. Therefore, a communication apparatus canperform wireless communication with another communication apparatushaving the same ESSID as that of the communication apparatus through theaccess point 102.

Further, each of the communication apparatuses has a WEP key similar tothe WEP key of the access point 102, and can use the WEP key to encryptand decrypt data to be communicated. That is, by obtaining settinginformation, each of the communication apparatuses can perform wirelesscommunication with another communication apparatus through the accesspoint 102, and can transmit and receive data. In the first embodiment,in view of their functions, the communication apparatus 104 is referredto as a master communication apparatus 104, and the communicationapparatus 106 is referred to as a slave communication apparatus 106.

The master communication apparatus 104 has the setting informationstored therein, and has a function for providing the slave communicationapparatus 106 with the setting information. The slave communicationapparatus 106 does not have the setting information, and has a functionfor obtaining the setting information from the master communicationapparatus 104. The setting information is transmitted and receivedbetween the master communication apparatus 104 and the slavecommunication apparatus 106 using near field communication. The nearfield communication may be, for example, contactless communication usingthe Near Field Communication (NFC) standard. Due to its use range asshort as about 10 cm, NFC allows a partner communication apparatus to bein control of user's hand actions, resulting in high security.

More specifically, for example, the slave communication apparatus 106includes a built-in contactless IC chip, which is an example of acontactless IC card function executing unit configured to execute acontactless IC card function, and the master communication apparatus 104includes a reader/writer that communicates with the contactless IC chipof the slave communication apparatus 106. When the distance between themaster communication apparatus 104 and the slave communication apparatus106 is within the NFC use range, communication is performed between thereader/writer of the master communication apparatus 104 and the IC chipof the slave communication apparatus 106 so that the setting informationcan be transmitted and received.

The setting information stored in the master communication apparatus 104may be directly obtained by the master communication apparatus 104 fromthe access point 102, or may be obtained by the master communicationapparatus 104 from another communication apparatus via near fieldcommunication. In that case, with respect to the relationship with theother communication apparatus from which the setting information isobtained, the master communication apparatus 104 can be a slavecommunication apparatus. After obtaining the setting information fromthe master communication apparatus 104, the slave communicationapparatus 106 may transmit the setting information to anothercommunication apparatus via near field communication. In that case, withrespect to the relationship with the other communication apparatus towhich the setting information is transmitted, the slave communicationapparatus 106 can be a master communication apparatus. That is, each ofthe communication apparatuses belonging to the wireless communicationsystem 100 can function as a master communication apparatus and canfunction as a slave communication apparatus.

The master communication apparatus 104 and the slave communicationapparatus 106 are computers having both the wireless communicationfunction through the access point 102 and the near field communicationfunction. Specific examples of those communication apparatuses mayinclude a personal computer, a television set, a camera, a music player,a game console, a mobile phone, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

The overall structure of the wireless communication system 100 has beendescribed. The functional structure of the access point 102, the mastercommunication apparatus 104, and the slave communication apparatus 106will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The access point 102 mainly includes a setting information storage unit112, a setting information transmitting unit 114, and a wirelesscommunication relay unit 116. The setting information storage unit 112stores the setting information. More specifically, the settinginformation storage unit 112 stores the setting information includingthe ESSID assigned to the access point 102 and the WEP key. FIG. 3illustrates setting information 1120 as an example of the settinginformation. As shown in FIG. 3, the setting information 1120 includesthe name of the access point 102, an SSID (ESSID), and a WEP key.

The setting information transmitting unit 114 transmits the settinginformation stored in the setting information storage unit 112 toanother communication apparatus. In the first embodiment, the settinginformation transmitting unit 114 transmits the setting information tothe master communication apparatus 104 via near field communication. Theaccess point 102 and the master communication apparatus 104 may beconnected by a wired communication line, and the setting informationtransmitting unit 114 may transmit the setting information to the mastercommunication apparatus 104 via wired communication.

The wireless communication relay unit 116 relays wireless communicationbetween the master communication apparatus 104 and the slavecommunication apparatus 106. More specifically, the wirelesscommunication relay unit 116 relays communication between communicationapparatuses having an ID identical to the ESSID included in the settinginformation stored in the setting information storage unit 112. Thewireless communication relay unit 116 relays wireless communicationbetween the master communication apparatus 104 and the slavecommunication apparatus 106 only when the master communication apparatus104 and the slave communication apparatus 106 have that ESSID.

The master communication apparatus 104 mainly includes a settinginformation receiving unit 122, a master-side wireless communicationunit 124, a master-side setting information storage unit 126, a settinginformation transfer unit 128, and a master-side near fieldcommunication unit 130.

The setting information receiving unit 122 receives the settinginformation from the access point 102. More specifically, if the accesspoint 102 has the near field communication function, the settinginformation receiving unit 122 obtains the setting information from theaccess point 102 via near field communication through the master-sidenear field communication unit 130. If the master communication apparatus104 and the access point 102 are connected by a wired communicationline, the setting information receiving unit 122 obtains the settinginformation via wired communication. The setting information receivingunit 122 stores the received setting information in the master-sidesetting information storage unit 126.

The master-side setting information storage unit 126 stores the settinginformation. More specifically, the master-side setting informationstorage unit 126 includes a memory such as a random access memory (RAM)or a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores the setting information obtainedfrom the setting information receiving unit 122.

The master-side wireless communication unit 124 performs wirelesscommunication with another communication apparatus through the accesspoint 102. More specifically, the master-side wireless communicationunit 124 includes a wireless LAN adapter complying with the IEEE 802.11standards, and performs wireless communication using the settinginformation stored in the master-side setting information storage unit126. That is, the master-side wireless communication unit 124 sends dataincluding the ESSID that is included in the setting information by meansof radio waves, and the radio waves are relayed by the access point 102with an ID identical to that ESSID, thereby transmitting the data toanother communication apparatus having the same ESSID. The master-sidewireless communication unit 124 also receives data transmitted fromanother communication apparatus through the access point 102. In thedata transmission and reception process, the master-side wirelesscommunication unit 124 uses the WEP key included in the settinginformation to encrypt data to be transmitted and to decrypt receiveddata.

The master-side near field communication unit 130 performs near fieldcommunication with the slave communication apparatus 106. Morespecifically, the master-side near field communication unit 130 includesa reader/writer configured to communicate with a contactless IC chipcomplying with NFC, and transmits and receives data to and from thecontactless IC chip of the slave communication apparatus 106. While inthe first embodiment, the master-side near field communication unit 130includes a reader/writer, the present invention is not limited thereto.For example, the master-side near field communication unit 130 mayinclude a contactless IC chip, and the slave communication apparatus 106may include a reader/writer. Alternatively, each of the mastercommunication apparatus 104 and the slave communication apparatus 106may include both a reader/writer and a contactless IC chip.

The setting information transfer unit 128 transmits the settinginformation stored in the master-side setting information storage unit126 to the slave communication apparatus 106 through the master-sidenear field communication unit 130. More specifically, upon receiving asetting information request for requesting the setting information fromthe slave communication apparatus 106 through the master-side near fieldcommunication unit 130, the setting information transfer unit 128 readsthe setting information from the master-side setting information storageunit 126 in response to the setting information request, and transmitsthe read setting information to the slave communication apparatus 106.

The slave communication apparatus 106 mainly includes a slave-sidewireless communication unit 142, a slave-side setting informationstorage unit 144, a slave-side near field communication unit 146, and asetting information obtaining unit 148.

Like the master-side wireless communication unit 124, the slave-sidewireless communication unit 142 performs wireless communication withanother communication apparatus through the access point 102. Morespecifically, the slave-side wireless communication unit 142 includes awireless LAN adapter complying with the IEEE 802.11 standards, andperforms wireless communication using the setting information stored inthe slave-side setting information storage unit 144. That is, theslave-side wireless communication unit 142 sends data including theESSID that is included in the setting information by means of radiowaves, and the radio waves are relayed by the access point 102 with anID identical to that ESSID, thereby transmitting the data to anothercommunication apparatus having the same ESSID. The slave-side wirelesscommunication unit 142 also receives data transmitted from anothercommunication apparatus through the access point 102. In the datatransmission and reception process, the slave-side wirelesscommunication unit 142 uses the WEP key included in the settinginformation to encrypt data to be transmitted and to decrypt receiveddata.

The slave-side setting information storage unit 144 stores the settinginformation. The setting information stored in the slave-side settinginformation storage unit 144 is obtained by the setting informationobtaining unit 148 from the master communication apparatus 104.

The slave-side near field communication unit 146 performs near fieldcommunication with the master communication apparatus 104. Morespecifically, the slave-side near field communication unit 146 includesa contactless IC chip complying with NFC, and transmits and receivesdata to and from the reader/writer of the master communication apparatus104. Specific examples of the contactless IC chip complying with NFC mayinclude a FeliCa (registered trademark) chip.

The setting information obtaining unit 148 obtains the settinginformation from the master communication apparatus 104 through theslave-side near field communication unit 146. More specifically, thesetting information obtaining unit 148 transmits a setting informationrequest for requesting the setting information to the mastercommunication apparatus 104 through the slave-side near fieldcommunication unit 146, and receives the setting information. Thesetting information obtaining unit 148 stores the obtained settinginformation in the slave-side setting information storage unit 144.

The functional structure of the access point 102, the mastercommunication apparatus 104, and the slave communication apparatus 106has been described. The data flow in the wireless communication system100 when the slave communication apparatus 106 obtains the settinginformation from the master communication apparatus 104 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, near field communication is started betweenthe master communication apparatus 104 and the slave communicationapparatus 106 (step S102). More specifically, for example, when theslave communication apparatus 106 is placed close to the mastercommunication apparatus 104 and the distance between the slavecommunication apparatus 106 and the master communication apparatus 104is within a range in which they can perform near field communication,the near field communication units 130 and 146 start near fieldcommunication.

Then, the slave communication apparatus 106 transmits a request toobtain the setting information to the master communication apparatus 104via near field communication (step S104). In response to the request toobtain the setting information, the master communication apparatus 104transmits the setting information stored therein to the slavecommunication apparatus 106 via near field communication (step S106).Upon receiving the setting information, the slave communicationapparatus 106 performs wireless communication through the access point102 using the setting information. More specifically, the slavecommunication apparatus 106 sends data including the ESSID that isincluded in the obtained setting information by means of radio waves,and the radio waves are relayed by the access point 102 having the sameESSID so that the data can be transmitted to another communicationapparatus having the same ESSID. The data is encrypted using the WEP keyincluded in the setting information.

For example, when the slave communication apparatus 106 is to performwireless communication with the master communication apparatus 104, theslave communication apparatus 106 transmits a connection request to themaster communication apparatus 104 through the access point 102 (stepS108). In response to the connection request transmitted from the slavecommunication apparatus 106, the master communication apparatus 104returns a connection response through the access point 102 (step S110),thereby starting wireless communication between the slave communicationapparatus 106 and the master communication apparatus 104 through theaccess point 102 (step S112). The data flow has been described.

As described above, in the wireless communication system 100 accordingto the first embodiment, since the slave communication apparatus 106obtains the setting information from the master communication apparatus104 via near field communication, the user of the slave communicationapparatus 106 can move the slave communication apparatus 106 into arange in which it can perform near field communication with the mastercommunication apparatus 104 to obtain the setting information, and canthereafter perform wireless communication through the access point 102.That is, the slave communication apparatus 106 can obtain the settinginformation from another communication apparatus having the settinginformation stored therein (the master communication apparatus 104),instead of directly obtaining the setting information from the accesspoint 102, without the user having to manually input the settinginformation.

Further, the setting information is transmitted and received between theslave communication apparatus 106 and the master communication apparatus104 via near field communication. Thus, the user can only place theslave communication apparatus 106 close to the master communicationapparatus 104 so that the slave communication apparatus 106 can performwireless communication through the access point 102, which isconvenient.

Second Embodiment

A wireless communication system according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in the context of a wirelesscommunication system 200 including a master communication apparatus 204and a slave communication apparatus 206 between which wirelesscommunication can be performed through an access point 102. In thesecond embodiment, the slave communication apparatus 206 is a similar tothat of the first embodiment in that setting information necessary foraccessing the access point 102 is obtained from the master communicationapparatus 204 via near field communication. The second embodiment isdifferent from the first embodiment in that the slave communicationapparatus 206 specifies the master communication apparatus 204 fromwhich the setting information is obtained as a communication party atthe other end of the wireless communication through the access point102, and transmits data to the master communication apparatus 204. Thefollowing description will be made with respect to the difference fromthe first embodiment.

The overall structure of the wireless communication system 200 accordingto the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Asshown in FIG. 5, the wireless communication system 200 includes theaccess point 102, the master communication apparatus 204, and the slavecommunication apparatus 206. As in the first embodiment, the mastercommunication apparatus 204 and the slave communication apparatus 206perform near field communication. Further, the master communicationapparatus 204 and the slave communication apparatus 206 can performwireless communication through the access point 102 using the settinginformation.

The master communication apparatus 204 has the setting informationstored therein, and can transfer the setting information to the slavecommunication apparatus 206. The slave communication apparatus 206 canobtain the setting information from the master communication apparatus204, and can perform wireless communication through the access point 102after obtaining the setting information. The slave communicationapparatus 206 further obtains access information, which is necessary tocommunicate with the master communication apparatus 204 via wirelesscommunication through the access point 102, from the mastercommunication apparatus 204 via near field communication, and can usethe obtained access information to access the master communicationapparatus 204 through the access point 102.

In the second embodiment, the slave communication apparatus 206 is adigital camera having both the wireless communication function throughthe access point 102 and the near field communication function. Themaster communication apparatus 204 is a personal computer having boththe wireless communication function through the access point 102 and thenear field communication function and including a display device thatoutputs image content. After the setting information and the accessinformation are transmitted and received between the mastercommunication apparatus 204 and the slave communication apparatus 206via near field communication, image content stored in the slavecommunication apparatus 206, such as a captured image, is transmittedand received via wireless communication through the access point 102,and the master communication apparatus 204 outputs the image contentreceived from the slave communication apparatus 206 to the displaydevice.

In general, wireless communication through the access point 102 realizeshigher communication speed than near field communication. It istherefore more efficient to transmit and receive image content with alarge data size via wireless communication through the access point 102.On the other hand, near field communication is not established until thedistance between communication apparatuses is relatively close, e.g.,within 10 cm. Users therefore keep the slave communication apparatus 206close to the master communication apparatus 204 during transfer ofcontent such as image content. If the content is transferred viawireless communication through the access point 102, users are notconstrained by that limitation.

The overall structure of the wireless communication system 200 has beendescribed. The functional structure of the master communicationapparatus 204 and the slave communication apparatus 206 will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5. The functional structure of theaccess point 102 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and adescription thereof is thus omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the master communication apparatus 204 mainlyincludes a setting information receiving unit 122, a master-sidewireless communication unit 124, a master-side setting informationstorage unit 126, a master-side content receiving unit 210, amaster-side content output unit 212, a master-side access informationtransmitting unit 214, a setting information transfer unit 128, and amaster-side near field communication unit 130. Elements having similarfunctions to those of the first embodiment are assigned the samereference numerals, and a description thereof is omitted.

The master-side access information transmitting unit 214 transmitsaccess information to the slave communication apparatus 206. The accessinformation is information necessary for another communication apparatusto communicate with the master communication apparatus 204 via wirelesscommunication through the access point 102, and includes, for example,an identifier for uniquely identifying the master communicationapparatus 204 within the wireless communication system 200. Themaster-side access information transmitting unit 214 receives an accessinformation request from the slave communication apparatus 206 throughthe master-side near field communication unit 130, and transmits theaccess information to the slave communication apparatus 206 via nearfield communication in response to the request.

The master-side content receiving unit 210 receives content transmittedfrom the slave communication apparatus 206. The content includes, forexample, music content, audio content such as a performance and a radiobroadcast, video content formed of a still image or a moving pictureconstituting a movie, a television broadcast, a video clip, aphotograph, a picture, and a graphic representation, an electronic book(E-book), a game, and a software application. In the second embodiment,the content will be described in the context of image content capturedby the slave communication apparatus 206 serving as a digital camera.

The master-side content receiving unit 210 receives through themaster-side wireless communication unit 124 the image contenttransmitted from the slave communication apparatus 206 via wirelesscommunication through the access point 102, and supplies the receivedimage content to the master-side content output unit 212.

The master-side content output unit 212 includes a display device suchas a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a cathode-ray tube(CRT), and displays the image content obtained from the master-sidecontent receiving unit 210 on the display device.

The functional structure of the slave communication apparatus 206 willnow be described with reference to FIG. 5. The slave communicationapparatus 206 mainly includes a slave-side wireless communication unit142, a slave-side setting information storage unit 144, a slave-sidecontent transfer unit 220, a slave-side transfer-content designatingunit 222, a slave-side content storage unit 224, a slave-side accessinformation obtaining unit 226, a slave-side near field communicationunit 146, and a setting information obtaining unit 148.

The slave-side access information obtaining unit 226 obtains the accessinformation from the master communication apparatus 204. Morespecifically, the slave-side access information obtaining unit 226transmits an access information request for requesting accessinformation on the master communication apparatus 204 to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 through the slave-side near fieldcommunication unit 146, and receives the access information transmittedfrom the master communication apparatus 204 in response to the requestthrough the slave-side near field communication unit 146. The accessinformation obtained by the slave-side access information obtaining unit226 is used to specify the master communication apparatus 204 as atransmission-destination communication apparatus when the slave-sidecontent transfer unit 220 transmits the image content to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 via wireless communication through theaccess point 102.

The slave-side transfer-content designating unit 222 includes, forexample, an input device such as an operation button and a touch panel,and an output device such as a liquid crystal monitor configured todisplay the image content, and designates a content item to betransferred from among a plurality of image content items stored in theslave-side content storage unit 224. More specifically, the slave-sidetransfer-content designating unit 222 displays a list of images on theoutput device so that the user can select the content to be transferred,and obtains one or a plurality of image content items designated by theuser through the input device from the slave-side content storage unit224 to supply the obtained content item or items to the slave-sidecontent transfer unit 220.

The slave-side content storage unit 224 stores content. In the secondembodiment, digital data of images captured by an image capturing unit(not shown) of the slave communication apparatus 206 is stored in theslave-side content storage unit 224.

The slave-side content transfer unit 220 transmits the image contentdesignated by the slave-side transfer-content designating unit 222 tothe master communication apparatus 204. More specifically, theslave-side content transfer unit 220 performs wireless communicationthrough the access point 102 using the setting information obtained bythe setting information obtaining unit 148 from the master communicationapparatus 204 and stored in the slave-side setting information storageunit 144. At that time, the slave-side content transfer unit 220 alsoaccesses the master communication apparatus 204 using the accessinformation on the master communication apparatus 204 obtained by theslave-side access information obtaining unit 226. Then, the slave-sidecontent transfer unit 220 transmits the image content designated by theslave-side transfer-content designating unit 222 to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 specified by the access information viawireless communication through the access point 102.

The functional structure of the master communication apparatus 204 andthe slave communication apparatus 206 has been described. The data flowin the wireless communication system 200 when the slave communicationapparatus 206 obtains the setting information from the mastercommunication apparatus 204 and subsequently transfers content will nowbe described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, the slave communication apparatus 206 designates content to betransferred (step S202). More specifically, the slave communicationapparatus 206 designates the content to be transferred to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 according to an instruction given by theuser through the input device. Then, near field communication is startedbetween the master communication apparatus 204 and the slavecommunication apparatus 206 (step S204). More specifically, for example,when the slave communication apparatus 206 is placed close to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 and the distance between the slavecommunication apparatus 206 and the master communication apparatus 204is within the coverage of near field communication, the near fieldcommunication units 130 and 146 start near field communication.

Then, the slave communication apparatus 206 transmits a request toobtain the setting information to the master communication apparatus 204via near field communication (step S206). Upon receiving the request toobtain the setting information, the master communication apparatus 204transmits the setting information stored therein to the slavecommunication apparatus 206 via near field communication in response tothe request (step S208). Upon receiving the setting information, theslave communication apparatus 206 performs wireless communicationthrough the access point 102 using the setting information.

Upon obtaining the setting information in step S208, the slavecommunication apparatus 206 sends a request to obtain access informationon the master communication apparatus 204 to the master communicationapparatus 204 via near field communication (step S210). In response tothe request, the master communication apparatus 204 transmits the accessinformation to the slave communication apparatus 206 via near fieldcommunication (step S212).

Upon obtaining the access information from the master communicationapparatus 204, the slave communication apparatus 206 uses the obtainedaccess information and the setting information obtained in step S208 tosend a connection request to the master communication apparatus 204 viawireless communication through the access point 102 (step S214). Whenthe master communication apparatus 204 transmits a response indicating“connection OK” in response to the connection request (step S216),wireless communication is started between the master communicationapparatus 204 and the slave communication apparatus 206 through theaccess point 102 (step S218). When the wireless communication isstarted, the slave communication apparatus 206 transmits the contentdesignated in step S202 to the master communication apparatus 204 (stepS220), and the master communication apparatus 204 outputs the receivedcontent (step S222).

The data flow between the master communication apparatus 204 and theslave communication apparatus 206 has been described. The flow ofinformation processing performed by the slave communication apparatus206 and the master communication apparatus 204 will now be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, first, the slave communication apparatus 206designates content to be transferred (step S302). Then, the user placesthe slave communication apparatus 206 close to the master communicationapparatus 204 (step S304). When the distance between the slavecommunication apparatus 206 and the master communication apparatus 204is within a predetermined distance, the slave communication apparatus206 starts near field communication with the master communicationapparatus 204 (step S306). When the near field communication is started,the slave communication apparatus 206 obtains the setting informationfrom the master communication apparatus 204 via near field communication(step S308). Then, the slave communication apparatus 206 specifies themaster communication apparatus 204 as the communication partner (stepS310). More specifically, the slave communication apparatus 206 obtainsaccess information from the master communication apparatus 204, andspecifies the master communication apparatus 204 specified by the accessinformation as a communication partner at the other end of the wirelesscommunication through the access point 102.

Then, the slave communication apparatus 206 uses the setting informationobtained in step S308 to access the access point 102 (step S312), andstarts wireless communication through the access point 102 (step S314).Then, the slave communication apparatus 206 transfers the contentdesignated in step S302 to the master communication apparatus 204specified as the communication partner in step S310 (step S316).

As shown in FIG. 8, first, the slave communication apparatus 206 isplaced close to the master communication apparatus 204 (step S402). Whenthe distance between the master communication apparatus 204 and theslave communication apparatus 206 is within the predetermined distance,the master communication apparatus 204 starts near field communicationwith the slave communication apparatus 206 (step S404). When the nearfield communication is started, the master communication apparatus 204receives a setting information request from the slave communicationapparatus 206 (step S406). In response to the received request, themaster communication apparatus 204 transmits the setting information tothe slave communication apparatus 206 via near field communication (stepS408). The master communication apparatus 204 further transmits theaccess information in response to an access information request receivedfrom the slave communication apparatus 206 (step S410).

Then, in response to a connection request from the slave communicationapparatus 206 via wireless communication through the access point 102,the master communication apparatus 204 starts wireless communicationwith the slave communication apparatus 206 through the access point 102(step S412). Then, the master communication apparatus 204 receivescontent from the slave communication apparatus 206 (step S414), andoutputs the received content (step S416). The flow of the informationprocessing performed by the communication apparatuses 204 and 206 hasbeen described.

In the second embodiment, therefore, the slave communication apparatus206 specifies the master communication apparatus 204 from which thesetting information is obtained as a communication party at the otherend of the wireless communication through the access point 102 beforetransferring content. That is, the slave communication apparatus 206transfers content to the master communication apparatus 204, which is atthe other end of the near field communication with the slavecommunication apparatus 206. Therefore, the user can transfer thedesignated content to the master communication apparatus 204 only byplacing the slave communication apparatus 206 close to the mastercommunication apparatus 204.

In general, a user sets setting information for accessing an accesspoint in a wireless communication apparatus, and manually specifies apartner apparatus with which he/she is to perform wireless communicationthrough the access point. In the second embodiment, however, a user canset setting information and can specify a communication partner only byperforming a single action of placing a wireless communication apparatus(the slave communication apparatus 206) close to another wirelesscommunication apparatus (the master communication apparatus 204). As aresult, the user can easily and quickly transfer content stored in theslave communication apparatus 206 to the master communication apparatus204, and can output the content to the master communication apparatus204.

Further, an operation of placing the slave communication apparatus 206close to the master communication apparatus 204 allows for thespecification of the destination to which the content stored in theslave communication apparatus 206 is to be transferred. The user canperform such an intuitively operation.

While in the second embodiment, the content has been described in thecontext of image content, the present invention is not limited thereto.For example, the content may be music. In that case, the slavecommunication apparatus 206 may be a portable music player, and themaster communication apparatus 204 may be a fixed music player.

The slave communication apparatus 206 may designate the content to betransferred by, instead of inputting the content from the user using theinput device, automatically designating the content currently beingplayed back by a content playback unit (not shown) included in the slavecommunication apparatus 206 as the content to be transferred. When thecontent currently being played back is designated as the content to betransferred, information regarding a position (playback position) up towhich the content has been played back by the slave communicationapparatus 206 is transmitted together with the content to the mastercommunication apparatus 204, whereby the master communication apparatus204 can play back the content from that position according to theobtained position information.

That is, a song played back and output by the slave communicationapparatus 206 is played back and output by the master communicationapparatus 204 from the last point at which the song was played back bythe slave communication apparatus 206. Therefore, a user who islistening to a song by playing back music content using the slavecommunication apparatus 206 can listen to the song output from themaster communication apparatus 204 by placing the slave communicationapparatus 206 close to the master communication apparatus 204 anddesignating the output destination of the song as the mastercommunication apparatus 204. Further, the master communication apparatus204 may play back the content received from the slave communicationapparatus 206 in a streaming manner. In that case, the slavecommunication apparatus 206 transfers the music content to the mastercommunication apparatus 204 not as files but as streaming data, and themaster communication apparatus 204 synchronizes the transferred data andoutputs audio using a speaker.

Third Embodiment

A wireless communication system according to a third embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in the context of a wirelesscommunication system 300 including a master communication apparatus 304and a slave communication apparatus 306 between which wirelesscommunication can be performed through an access point 102. The thirdembodiment is similar to the first embodiment in that the slavecommunication apparatus 306 obtains setting information necessary foraccessing the access point 102 from the master communication apparatus304 via near field communication. The third embodiment is similar to thesecond embodiment in that data is transmitted and received between themaster communication apparatus 304 and the slave communication apparatus306 through the access point 102 after the setting information istransmitted and received. In the second embodiment, the slavecommunication apparatus 206 specifies the master communication apparatus204 from which the setting information is obtained as the communicationpartner and transmits data to the master communication apparatus 204. Inthe third embodiment, unlike the second embodiment, the mastercommunication apparatus 304 specifies the slave communication apparatus306 to which the setting information is transmitted as a communicationparty at the other end of the wireless communication through the accesspoint 102, and transmits data to the slave communication apparatus 306.The following description will be made with respect to the differencefrom the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

First, the overall structure of the wireless communication system 300according to the third embodiment will be described with reference toFIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, the wireless communication system 300includes the access point 102, the master communication apparatus 304,and the slave communication apparatus 306. As in the first embodiment,the master communication apparatus 304 and the slave communicationapparatus 306 perform near field communication. Further, the mastercommunication apparatus 304 and the slave communication apparatus 306can perform wireless communication through the access point 102 usingthe setting information.

The master communication apparatus 304 has the setting informationstored therein, and can transfer the setting information to the slavecommunication apparatus 306. Further, the master communication apparatus304 obtains access information, which is necessary to communicate withthe slave communication apparatus 306 via wireless communication throughthe access point 102, from the slave communication apparatus 306 vianear field communication, and uses the obtained access information toaccess the slave communication apparatus 306 through the access point102. The slave communication apparatus 306 can obtain the settinginformation from the master communication apparatus 304, and can performwireless communication through the access point 102 after obtaining thesetting information.

In the third embodiment, the slave communication apparatus 306 is aportable music player having both the wireless communication functionthrough the access point 102 and the near field communication function.The master communication apparatus 304 is a personal computer havingboth the wireless communication function through the access point 102and the near field communication function, and is capable of storingmusic content. After the setting information and the access informationare transmitted and received between the master communication apparatus304 and the slave communication apparatus 306 via near fieldcommunication, the music content stored in the master communicationapparatus 304 is transmitted and received via wireless communicationthrough the access point 102, and the slave communication apparatus 306can output the music content received from the master communicationapparatus 304.

The overall structure of the wireless communication system 300 has beendescribed. The functional structure of the master communicationapparatus 304 and the slave communication apparatus 306 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 9. The functional structure of theaccess point 102 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and adescription thereof is thus omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, the master communication apparatus 304 mainlyincludes a setting information receiving unit 122, a master-sidewireless communication unit 124, a master-side setting informationstorage unit 126, a master-side content transfer unit 310, a master-sidecontent storage unit 314, a master-side transfer-content designatingunit 312, a master-side access information obtaining unit 316, a settinginformation transfer unit 128, and a master-side near fieldcommunication unit 130. Elements having similar functions to those ofthe first embodiment are assigned the same reference numerals, and adescription is omitted.

The master-side access information obtaining unit 316 obtains accessinformation from the slave communication apparatus 306. The accessinformation includes an identifier for uniquely identifying the slavecommunication apparatus 306 within the wireless communication system300. The master-side access information obtaining unit 316 transmits arequest for requesting access information on the slave communicationapparatus 306 to the slave communication apparatus 306 through themaster-side near field communication unit 130, and receives the accessinformation transmitted from the slave communication apparatus 306 inresponse to the request through the master-side near field communicationunit 130. The access information obtained by the master-side accessinformation obtaining unit 316 is used to specify the slavecommunication apparatus 306 as a transmission-destination communicationapparatus when the master-side content transfer unit 310 transmits themusic content to the slave communication apparatus 306 via wirelesscommunication through the access point 102.

The master-side transfer-content designating unit 312 includes, forexample, an input device such as a keyboard, a touch panel, and a mouse,and an output device such as a liquid crystal display configured todisplay a list of music content items, and designates a content item tobe transferred from among a plurality of music content items stored inthe master-side content storage unit 314. More specifically, themaster-side transfer-content designating unit 312 displays a list ofmusic content items, including titles of songs and names of artists, onthe output device so that the user can select the content to betransferred, and obtains one or a plurality of music content itemsdesignated by the user through the input device from the master-sidecontent storage unit 314 to supply the selected content item or items tothe master-side content transfer unit 310.

The master-side content storage unit 314 stores content. In the thirdembodiment, digital data of songs downloaded by the master communicationapparatus 304 via the Internet, ripped from music compact disks (CDs),or transferred from other communication apparatuses or the like isstored in the master-side content storage unit 314.

The master-side content transfer unit 310 transmits the music contentdesignated by the master-side transfer-content designating unit 312 tothe slave communication apparatus 306. More specifically, themaster-side content transfer unit 310 performs wireless communicationthrough the access point 102 using the setting information stored in themaster-side setting information storage unit 126. At that time, themaster-side content transfer unit 310 also accesses the slavecommunication apparatus 306 using the access information on the slavecommunication apparatus 306 obtained by the master-side accessinformation obtaining unit 316. Then, the master-side content transferunit 310 transmits the music content designated by the master-sidetransfer-content designating unit 312 to the slave communicationapparatus 306 specified by the access information via wirelesscommunication through the access point 102.

The master communication apparatus 304 may be configured such that alist of music content items that can be transferred to the slavecommunication apparatus 306 is transmitted via near field communicationand the master-side content transfer unit 310 transmits the contentselected by the slave communication apparatus 306.

The functional structure of the slave communication apparatus 306 willnow be described with reference to FIG. 9. The slave communicationapparatus 306 mainly includes a slave-side wireless communication unit142, a slave-side setting information storage unit 144, a slave-sidecontent receiving unit 320, a slave-side content output unit 322, aslave-side access information transmitting unit 324, a slave-side nearfield communication unit 146, and a setting information obtaining unit148.

The slave-side access information transmitting unit 324 transmits theaccess information to the master communication apparatus 304. Morespecifically, the slave-side access information transmitting unit 324receives an access information request from the master communicationapparatus 304 through the slave-side near field communication unit 146,and transmits the access information to the master communicationapparatus 304 via near field communication in response to the request.

The slave-side content receiving unit 320 receives music contenttransmitted from the master communication apparatus 304. The slave-sidecontent receiving unit 320 receives through the slave-side wirelesscommunication unit 142 the music content transmitted by the mastercommunication apparatus 304 via wireless communication through theaccess point 102, and supplies the received music content to theslave-side content output unit 322. The slave communication apparatus306 may further include a storage unit for storing the music contentreceived by the slave-side content receiving unit 320.

The slave-side content output unit 322 includes an audio output devicesuch as a speaker, and plays back the music content obtained from theslave-side content receiving unit 320 to output audio.

The functional structure of the master communication apparatus 304 andthe slave communication apparatus 306 has been described. The data flowin the wireless communication system 300 when the slave communicationapparatus 306 obtains the setting information from the mastercommunication apparatus 304 and then the master communication apparatus304 transfers content to the slave communication apparatus 306 will nowbe described with reference to FIG. 10.

The following description will be made of the data flow when the mastercommunication apparatus 304 transmits via near field communication alist of music content items that can be transferred to the slavecommunication apparatus 306 and the master-side content transfer unit310 transmits the content selected by the slave communication apparatus306.

First, near field communication is started between the mastercommunication apparatus 304 and the slave communication apparatus 306(step S502). Then, the slave communication apparatus 306 transmits arequest to obtain the setting information to the master communicationapparatus 304 via near field communication (step S504). Upon receivingthe request to obtain the setting information, the master communicationapparatus 304 transmits the setting information stored therein to theslave communication apparatus 306 via near field communication inresponse to the request (step S506). Upon receiving the settinginformation, the slave communication apparatus 306 perform wirelesscommunication through the access point 102 using the settinginformation.

After transmitting the setting information in step S506, the mastercommunication apparatus 304 sends via near field communication a requestto obtain access information on the slave communication apparatus 306 tothe slave communication apparatus 306 as the transmission destination towhich the setting information is transmitted (step S508). In response tothe request, the slave communication apparatus 306 transmits the accessinformation to the master communication apparatus 304 via near fieldcommunication (step S510).

Upon obtaining the access information from the slave communicationapparatus 306, the master communication apparatus 304 transmits acontent list (including titles of songs, names of artists, and genres)indicating a list of music content items stored in the mastercommunication apparatus 304 to the slave communication apparatus 306 vianear field communication (step S512). The slave communication apparatus306 selects one or a plurality of content lists from the receivedcontent list according to an instruction given by the user (step S514),and transmits information on the selected content (such as an ID foruniquely identifying the content) to the master communication apparatus304 via near field communication (step S516).

Upon receiving the selected-content information, the mastercommunication apparatus 304 uses the access information obtained in stepS510 to send a connection request to the slave communication apparatus306 via wireless communication through the access point 102 (step S518).When the slave communication apparatus 306 transmits a responseindicating “connection OK” in response to the connection request (stepS520), wireless communication is started between the mastercommunication apparatus 304 and the slave communication apparatus 306through the access point 102 (step S522). When the wirelesscommunication is started, the master communication apparatus 304transmits the content designated according to the selected-contentinformation received in step S516 to the slave communication apparatus306 (step S524).

In the third embodiment, therefore, the master communication apparatus304 specifies the slave communication apparatus 306 to which the settinginformation is transmitted as a communication party at the other end ofthe wireless communication through the access point 102 beforetransferring content. That is, the master communication apparatus 304transfers content to the slave communication apparatus 306, which is atthe other end of the near field communication with the mastercommunication apparatus 304. Therefore, the user can transfer thecontent stored in the master communication apparatus 304 to the slavecommunication apparatus 306 only by placing the slave communicationapparatus 306 close to the master communication apparatus 304. Contentis generally transferred using wireless communication through an accesspoint, which realizes higher communication speed than near fieldcommunication, and content with a large data size, such as music contentand video content, can be efficiently transferred. Unlike near fieldcommunication, the distance between the slave communication apparatus306 and the master communication apparatus 304 is not necessarilymaintained within a predetermined distance during transfer of thecontent.

Further, as in the second embodiment, in general, a user sets settinginformation for accessing an access point in a wireless communicationapparatus, and manually specifies a partner apparatus with which he/sheis to perform wireless communication through the access point. In thethird embodiment, however, a user can set the setting information andcan specify a communication partner only by performing a single actionof placing a wireless communication apparatus (the slave communicationapparatus 306) close to another wireless communication apparatus (themaster communication apparatus 304). As a result, the user can easilyand quickly transfer content stored in the master communicationapparatus 304 to the slave communication apparatus 306.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood thatthe present invention is not limited to those embodiments. It is to beanticipated by those skilled in the art that a variety of modificationsor alterations may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention and that these modifications or alterations also fall withinthe technical scope of the present invention.

For example, while in the second and third embodiments, content istransmitted and received immediately after setting information andaccess information are transmitted and received, the present inventionis not limited to those embodiments. For example, content may betransmitted and received after a predetermined time has elapsed afterthe transmission and reception of setting information and accessinformation, or content may be transmitted and received when a mastercommunication apparatus or a slave communication apparatus receives aninstruction from a user.

In the third embodiment, a content list is transferred via near fieldcommunication. Alternatively, a content list can be transferred usingwireless LAN or the like.

While in the embodiments described above, wireless communication throughan access point has been described in the context of wirelesscommunication using a wireless LAN, the present invention is not limitedto those embodiments. For example, the wireless communication may bewireless communication using Bluetooth or Ultra Wide Band (UWB)technology.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication terminal comprising: a near fieldcommunication unit configured to receive, by using a near fieldcommunication, a content list indicating a plurality of content itemsand communication information from a communication apparatus; and awireless communication unit configured to communicate directly with aninformation processing apparatus via a wireless communication which isdifferent from the near field communication, and to receive a selectedcontent item according to a selection from the plurality content itemsindicated in the content list, the selected content item being receivedfrom the information processing apparatus via the wirelesscommunication, according to the communication information, wherein thecommunication information includes credentials for accessing theinformation processing apparatus and encrypting the wirelesscommunication.
 2. The communication terminal according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of content items includes a software application.3. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of content items includes a video content item.
 4. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising anoutput unit configured to display information based on the content listreceived by the near field communication unit.
 5. The communicationterminal according to claim 1, further comprising an input unit, whereinthe selected content item corresponds to the selection based on an inputreceived via the input unit.
 6. The communication terminal according toclaim 4, wherein the selected content item corresponds to the selectionbased on the content list displayed on the output unit.
 7. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising acontent processing unit configured to process the selected content itemreceived by the wireless communication unit.
 8. The communicationterminal according to claim 7, wherein the wireless communication unitis configured to receive the selected content item in a streaming mannerand the content processing unit is configured to play the selectedcontent item received in the streaming manner.
 9. A communication methodcomprising: receiving, in a near field communication, a content listindicating a plurality of content items and communication informationfrom a communication apparatus; communicating directly with aninformation processing apparatus via a wireless communication which isdifferent from the near field communication; and receiving a selectedcontent item according to a selection from the plurality content itemsindicated in the content list, the selected content item being receivedfrom the information processing apparatus via the wirelesscommunication, according to the communication information, wherein thecommunication information includes credentials for accessing theinformation processing apparatus and encrypting the wirelesscommunication.
 10. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computerreadable program that is executable by a processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving, by using a near field communication, a contentlist indicating a plurality of content items and communicationinformation from a communication apparatus; communicating directly withan information processing apparatus via a wireless communication whichis different from the near field communication; and receiving a selectedcontent item according to a selection from the plurality content itemsindicated in the content list, the selected content item being receivedfrom the information processing apparatus via the wirelesscommunication, according to the communication information, wherein thecommunication information includes credentials for accessing theinformation processing apparatus and encrypting the wirelesscommunication.
 11. The communication terminal according to claim 1,wherein the near field communication uses a near field communicationmedium that enables the content list and the communication informationto be received by the near field communication unit, and wherein thewireless communication uses a wireless communication medium that enablesthe selected content item to be received by the wireless communicationunit.
 12. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein thenear field communication uses a near field communication medium thatenables the content list and the communication information to bereceived by a near field communication unit, and wherein the wirelesscommunication uses a wireless communication medium that enables theselected content item to be received by a wireless communication unit.13. The non-transitory recording medium according to claim 10, whereinthe near field communication uses a near field communication medium thatenables the content list and the communication information to bereceived by a near field communication unit, and wherein the wirelesscommunication uses a wireless communication medium that enables theselected content item to be received by a wireless communication unit.14. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein thecommunication information includes setting information.